iPCS Affiliates Take Sprint to Court Over Virgin Acquisition

A handful of Sprint's iPCS affiliates have filed a lawsuit against the company in an attempt to block its planned taker over of Virgin Mobile. The three affiliates involved -- iPCS Wireless, Horizon Personal Communications, and Bright Personal Communications Services -- allege that the acquisition violates the affiliates' Management Agreements with Sprint. These agreements prohibit Sprint from competing with the affiliates in their home service areas. The three affiliates want the acquisition blocked until it can be amended to comply with the competition agreements. iPCS took Sprint to court over its Nextel acquisition, and is still litigating against Sprint's relationship with Clearwire.